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21st Session of the UNESCAP Intergovernmental Consultative Committee on the Regional Space Applications Programme for Sustainable Development

Oct 9‐12, 2017, Bangkok 

CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT IN SPACE TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS: A SYNOPSIS OF THE SRI LANKAN ROADMAP

by

Eng. Sanath PanawennageDirector General & CEO 

Arthur C Clarke Institute of Modern Technologies (ACCIMT), Sri Lanka

Space Technologies in National Development: The Sri Lankan Road Map

Three strategic elements• National Hub for Receiving and Redistribution of

Earth Observation Data• Nano-satellite Programme• Domain Specific Collaborative Research on

Space Technology Applications

Undertaken in parallel with institutional capacity building of the ACCIMT- the implementing agency, and other stakeholder organizations

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National Capacity Development in Space Technology Applications: Nano-satellite Development Program

Key National project planned by the ACCIMT aiming national capacity development in Space Technology Applications,

Development of system engineering capabilities including integration of different competences of institutions and Universities

Initial project planning has already been initiated

Nanosatellite Project: Initial 3u CubeSat

3U Cubesat(300mm × 100mm × 100mm)

Systems Engineering ModelFlight Model

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UNESCAP – Sri Lanka Pilot project on Applications of Space Technologies for Agricultural Drought Monitoring & Early Warning

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2016/Jan/01          2016/Jan/17               2016/Feb/02

2016 – MODIS_NDVI

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AWiFS January Feb                    March                   May

June                     July                     August                    Sep   

2016NDVI

Historical Drought Records

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Province District District Secretariats DivisionDate (YMD) Cause Deaths Injured Missing Houses Destroyed Houses Damaged Victims Affected 

Disinventor Data Base

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Disaster Records MODIS_VCI

Event District DS Division Month

DROUGHT Kurunegala Ambanpola Jan Moderate Drought

DROUGHT Kurunegala Alawwa Jan Mild Drought

DROUGHT Kurunegala Bamunukotuwa Jan Mild Drought

DROUGHT Kurunegala Ehetuwewa Jan Severe Drought

DROUGHT Kurunegala Galgamuwa Jan Extreme Drought

DROUGHT Kurunegala Kobeigane Jan Severe Drought

DROUGHT Kurunegala Kotavehera Jan Mild Drought

Disaster Record Vs DMS Results 2012

• Validation

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Disaster Records MODIS_Anomaly_Results MODIS_VCI_Results

Event District DS Division Date (YMD)Month Value Description Value Description

DROUGHT Kurunegala Ambanpola 1/1/2012 Jan ‐4.3628 Normal 26.2121 Moderate Drought

DROUGHT Kurunegala Alawwa 1/1/2012 Jan ‐1.9134 Normal 38.5823 Mild Drought

DROUGHT Kurunegala Bamunukotuwa 1/1/2012 Jan ‐3.9138 Normal 37.4379 Mild Drought

DROUGHT Kurunegala Ehetuwewa 1/1/2012 Jan ‐3.5075 Normal 10.7116 Severe Drought

DROUGHT Kurunegala Galgamuwa 1/1/2012 Jan ‐5.5094 Normal 6.0019 Extreme Drought

DROUGHT Kurunegala Kobeigane 1/1/2012 Jan ‐6.1390 Normal 13.2366 Severe Drought

DROUGHT Kurunegala Kotavehera 1/1/2012 Jan ‐0.0370 Normal 38.8937 Mild Drought

DROUGHT Kurunegala Kuliyapitiya East 1/1/2012 Jan 0.6486 Normal 74.1514 No

DROUGHT Kurunegala Kurunegala 1/1/2012 Jan ‐2.3725 Normal 56.4620 No

DROUGHT Kurunegala Mahawa 1/1/2012 Jan ‐1.7227 Normal 42.9540 No

DROUGHT Kurunegala Mawathagama 1/1/2012 Jan 0.3113 Normal 64.5378 No

DROUGHT KurunegalaPanduwasnuwara East 1/1/2012 Jan ‐3.1613 Normal 50.4597 No

DROUGHT Kurunegala Rasnayakapura 1/1/2012 Jan ‐1.1710 Normal 28.7844 Moderate Drought

DROUGHT Kurunegala Rideegama 1/1/2012 Jan ‐2.8737 Normal 54.1469 No

DROUGHT Kurunegala Udubaddawa 1/1/2012 Jan ‐4.4286 Normal 30.9909 Mild Drought

DROUGHT Kurunegala Wariyapola 1/1/2012 Jan ‐3.1079 Normal 36.4877 Mild Drought

DROUGHT Kurunegala Ganewatta 1/1/2012 Jan ‐2.0774 Normal 34.1742 Mild Drought

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Agriculture Drought monitoring and early warning    

(ACCIMT / UNESCAP pilot project)

»Process and analyze MODIS data, generate monthly Drought severity maps 

& Circulated to  Stakeholder Agencies.

»Represent time series Drought Severity, Graphically for the Yala and Maha

Season for every District/ Agro ecological zone

» Awareness program for Science and Technology Officers to check the 

feasibility of Field data collection for Validate the Drought Mechanism.

Other Existing and Potential Applications (by the Members of the Inter-Agency Forum of Users) of the Geographical Information Systems and Remote Sensing Applications

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1. Agriculture and Food Security

Department of Agrarian Development - Sri Lanka

• Location Intelligence for Sustainable development in agricultural lands• Agrarian databases on Agriculture Related Natural Resource Management in Sri

Lanka

Ministry of fisheries & aquatic resources development

• Observe sea erosion which can inflicted severe damages to fishing craft and impeded fishing activities

• Remove moss, floating fern and salvinia in reservoirs

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_e9FyNVUB_6E/S_zLkNzne4I/AAAAAAAAAAw/vhwlxwEtFVE/s1600/EEZ.gif

Present Situation

Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies

• Space technology based agricultural drought monitoring and early warning

Irrigation Department – Sri Lanka

• Producing land use plans for the initial feasibility investigations, detailed economic appraisal, selection of lands for irrigation, selection of suitable crop patters, calculation of irrigation requirements, decisions regarding lay out, settlement plans etc..,

• Mapping existing land use, Soil survey and land Classification

• Preparation of soil and land use maps of existing major and medium irrigation schemes for the crop diversification program.

https://www.goplaybooks.com/assets/screen‐shot‐2012‐10‐26‐at‐12.01.13‐pm.png

https://fthmb.tqn.com/‐mohmwenhQkjxgDUfZBMoUdynE8=/768x0/filters:no_upscale()/GettyImages‐179420216‐572a78a55f9b58c34c7ca7de.jpg

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Potential Applications

• Agriculture and Food security

• Crop health analysis

• Compliance mapping

• Identification of pest and disease infestation

• Accurately estimate agricultural production and crop damages

• Use of crop zoning and land use planning to

optimize land use and land conservation

• Pasture or grazing area monitoring for livestock

management

http://www.tankonyvtar.hu/en/tartalom/tamop425/0027_DAI6/images/DAI620.png

http://eijournal.com/wp‐content/uploads/2015/09/Emmetts_1482_fc_clip.jpg

2. Urban planning and development

Present Situations

Urban Development Authority

• Mapping Distribution Pattern of the

Undeserved Settlements

• Identified suitable locations for housing

projects

• Location selections for mega development

projects

http://www.uda.gov.lk

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Potential Applications

• Spatial planning

• Traffic Management

• 3D modelling of cities and assessing physical transformation of cities

• Study of transportation systems and important aspects both in static and dynamic mode

• Slum detection, monitoring and updating

https://www.nap.edu/openbook/0309088631/xhtml/images/p20007110g21001.jpg

http://earthzine.org/wp‐content/uploads/2011/07/Figure‐33.jpg

3. Land and Eco System Management

Present Situations

National Physical Planning Department

• Planning –Integration of National Physical plan and sectoral plans with regional development plans, in order to achieve sustainable development.

• Identify and inventoried all reservations of water bodies (springs, tanks, reservoirs, lakes lagoons, estuaries, rivers and other water bodies, etc), and buffer zones maintained by these State Agencies.

• Delineate Sacred Area Plans and Township development Plan

http://www.nppd.gov.lk

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Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment

• For Sustainable environmental and sustainable development projects

• For Environmental Assessment and Management Framework - giving details of potential environmental issues and guidelines on what type of environmental assessment tools to be applied for various sub-project activities

Potential Applications

• Land cover mapping

• Soil fauna monitoring

• Wetlands monitoring and management

• Wildlife tracking

• Biodiversity monitoring and management

• Forest change detection mappinghttp://www.andra.fr/ope/images/articles/dispositifs/ReseauQualSol2011_CLC.jpg

https://content.satimagingcorp.com/static/galleryimages/GeoEye‐1_Wildebeest_Migration_Kenya.jpg

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4. Ocean Resource Management

Present Situations

Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Department

• Coastal water quality monitoring program to identify the locations of beaches where it is suitable for bath, recreational monitoring program to identify the locations of beaches where it is suitable for bathe, recreational activities, fishing and other beach related activities and mitigate the impacts for coastal habitat.

http://www.dmc.gov.lk/hazard/hazard/Maps.html

• To develop “Coastal Hazard Maps” for four hazards namely Tsunami, Storm Surges, Coastal Erosion and Sea Level Rise

• Off-shore sand mining & beach nourishment to protect coastal lands, infrastructure, dwelling units, properties & livelihood from acute sea erosion

Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies

Mapping Mangrove Species Using Hyperspectral Remote Sensing in Koggalalagoon

National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA)

• Water Quality in the Puttalam- Dutch Canal-Mundel Estuarine System

• Shoreline configuration and process the information collected in order to create organized databases capable of feeding the production of thematic maps, nautical charts and other types of documentation

https://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/images/nNTC_1imageCapeHenry.jpg

http://worldmaritimenews.com/wp‐content/uploads/2012/01/UK‐FIND‐Maps‐Releases‐OceanWise‐Marine‐Data‐and‐Maps.jpg

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Potential Applications

To detect• Oil Spill Events• Chemical Spills• Ship Accidents

• Mapping marine resources

• Coral reef monitoring and management

• Detect ocean sedimentation

• Salinity observation

http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/wgcu/files/styles/medium/public/201704/deepwater‐horizon‐oil‐spill‐gulf.jpg

http://g.diena.lt/03/80/4506051095211.jpg

5. Disaster Risk Management

Present Situations

Disaster Management Centre (DMC)

• Mapping of areas inundated by actual floods

• Simulation of Hazard Scenarios

• Preparation of 1:50000 scale hazard zonation maps

• Spatial resolution of modelling

• Assessing coastal erosion

http://www.dmc.gov.lk/index_english.htm

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Potential Applications

• Response planning

• Damage and needs assessment

• Disaster scenario modelling

• Provide accurate information on exact location of an emergency situation

• Hazard mapping for infrastructure planning

http://i1.wp.com/www.gisresources.com/wp‐content/uploads/2016/05/Remote‐Sensing‐for‐Disaster‐Management.gif?resize=618%2C309

6. Health Education and Social Services

Present Situation

Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies

Geographic Information Systems for niche modelling of infectious diseases using remotely sensed environmental factors

Study is conducted to model the Dengue Fever using the aspects of human-mosquito-virus interrelationship triangle which are demographic, ecological, entomological, climatic, and social.

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/figure/image?size=medium&id=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0065786.g005

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/‐qHeu9‐il7Zg/WFVIllv7j0I/AAAAAAAAGF4/uxguEb998lotV954Dovn7nanx7avCeCaACPcB/s1600/dengue%2Btrends.png

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Potential Applications

• Mapping the trend of the disease transmission

• Geographical distributions of disease prevalence

• The spatial modelling of environmental aspects of disease occurrences

• Epidemic Surveillance

• Identifying health inequalities

• Modelling health services

Challenges

• Affordable and accessible data and analytical tools are expensive

• Mostly research projects have been carried out on relatively limited resources

• Tradeoff between spatial and temporal resolution

• Limited interconnected between geospatial community with other communities

• Data sharing difficulties

• expensive software's and limitation of technical people

• Funding issues

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National Capacity Development in Space Technology Applications

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for aerial imaging applications in areas of Agriculture, irrigation, urban planning, forestry and archeology etc.

National Capacity Development in Space Technology Applications

■ Establishment of Spectro-Radiometry Laboratory and a spectral signature bank A research project initiated to develop a spectral

signature library (bank) for identifying spectral signatures for our home-grown crops, in particularly paddy, using a spectroradiometer.

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International Cooperation UNESCAP RESAP CSSTEAP UNOOSA APRSAF HISTBilateral/Inter-agency ISRO (India) SSAU (Russia) RADI (China)

International Cooperation

Interventions Postgraduate Training Short term specialized training for experts Expert Missions Collaborative Research Technical Assistance

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Thank You!